The California spiny lobster is an important species in California both economically and ecologically. In order to support sustainable fishing of this species, managers need more information about reproduction, such as female lobster size at maturity and fecundity, genetic diversity of the population, and handling mortality of sub-legal sized lobsters.
It is also believed that a significant portion of the California lobster stock is spawned in Mexican waters, which means that in order to make sustainable management decisions, an improved understanding of transnational variation in lobster demographics and potential population structures is needed.
Through a sampling program conducted in collaboration with commercial lobster fishers throughout Southern California and northern Baja California Mexico, this project proposes to improve understanding of California spiny lobster population dynamics and fishery interactions at a regional scale.
The overarching goal of this project is to enhance the sustainability of the California spiny lobster fishery by providing data with direct management application to the state of California.